Great Demon Sun Wukong

There's a saying that goes, 'In the mountains, the years do not pass', and another that says, 'A mere seven days in a cave, yet a thousand years in the world have passed.' Both phrases describe how immortals engaged in cultivation are completely unaware of the passing of time; such was the state that Sun Wukong and his two companions found themselves in.

Ever since they entered this peculiar room and felt the surging Law Power, the three of them had fallen into a state of self-forgetful cultivation.

Thirty days later, Caomei returned with the little fox, but after resting for only three days, the two of them jumped out of the window once more, and the three lost in their cultivation did not perceive anything.

In truth, Sun Wukong and the others were unaware that this so-called Supreme Pool was not actually a pool. It was a fragment of an otherworldly realm within the Netherworld World, albeit a fragmented and incomplete world. Without sun or moon, the passage of time was almost imperceptible.

However, due to the fractured nature of the world, this realm was filled with all kinds of Cosmic Laws and Heaven and Earth Pressure.

The room where Sun Wukong and his companions were situated was actually on the third layer of a kilometer-high tower within the sprawling Primordial Tower named the Pure Law Glazed Tower, an artefact Yue Huangquan specifically refined to harness the Laws within this broken realm.

Only within this massive tower could one avoid the chaotic spatial currents and cutting forces of the outside shattered space; even a Nine Patterns Supreme wouldn't survive more than three breaths outside.

In fact, this information had been meant to be communicated to everyone upon their entrance into the Supreme Pool by a designated person, yet the one meant to explain it to Sun Wukong and the others had been turned away by Caomei.

She had done so out of fear that when it was time for her to leave, Sun Wukong and the others would try to stop her, and also because explaining everything would be too great a hassle. Therefore, Sun Wukong and his companions had no understanding of the Supreme Pool whatsoever.

However, this wasn't much of an issue. Although the three of them were somewhat curious, their desire for strength far surpassed their curiosity. So, apart from looking out the window on the first day, they had not stirred since, which also put Caomei's mind at ease, lest she need to resort to force.

This broken realm had cost Yue Huangquan a great deal of effort to obtain, and she had specially crafted the Bronze Gate to serve as the sole entrance and exit. Later on, taken by a whim, Yue Huangquan added various Divine Skills to the Bronze Gate, to the point where if she wished, she could use the gate to reach any place in the universe that she had previously visited through it.

Of course, it had to be a place Yue Huangquan had been before.

But none of this was known to Sun Wukong and the others. Even if they knew... what could they do with that knowledge? They would still have to follow the rules of the Netherworld World obediently. Could they possibly hope to snatch the Bronze Gate from Yue Huangquan's hands?

Time flew by swiftly and, in the blink of an eye, six months had passed. The strength of the three individuals had greatly improved. When they had first arrived, all three of them were at the peak of Six Patterns.

After half a year of absorption and Refinement, Sun Wukong had reached the peak of Eight Patterns and had successfully replaced Five Laws, but due to his lack of one Law, he had already moved on to replacing the Sixth Law. With one more step, he would be able to replace the newly comprehended Law as well.

At this point, one might question, since it is possible to autonomously choose which Laws to absorb here, why go through the trouble of replacing them later rather than choosing High Level or Top Level Laws during the ascension?

This was, in fact, a move born of necessity. Although the Supreme Pool was teeming with Laws, the Laws grasped during ascension, while selectable, could not exceed High Level. The Law Power of High Level Laws was already the limit of what one could endure during ascension.

If one chose a Top Level Law to break through, they would be instantly blown apart and reduced to fragments at the moment of ascension.

However, replacing them is a different matter. As long as one's understanding of the Law is sufficient, one could replace it at will. This is why they went to such lengths, an endeavor which also wasted much time. But such 'wasteful' time was something many people dream of having, as most lacked the innate ability to comprehend more Laws.

Right from the start, Sun Wukong attempted to absorb and comprehend another Law to fill the gap of his One Pattern shortfall, but he discovered, to his dismay, that no matter how he tried, he couldn't recover the missing Law. If he forced himself to absorb another Law, he would feel on the verge of rising to Seven Patterns.

This meant that Sun Wukong, at the peak of Six Patterns with Five Laws, would need to ascend to Seven Patterns to absorb a sixth Law, but then he would be one Law short again at Seven Patterns.

For this reason, Sun Wukong wasted nearly half a month trying every method he could think of, only to find none succeeded in filling the gap. However, Sun Wukong took some solace in the fact that since he was missing one Law, he could replace his Laws slightly faster than others.

But the fact remained that he still lacked one Law, which meant that even if he became a Nine Patterns Supreme, he could not merge Nine Paths of Law to attain the existence of a Domain Lord Level!

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However, there was nothing to be done at the moment, so Sun Wukong could only refrain from dwelling on it and focus on absorbing and refining new Laws. It took two months, but he successfully absorbed two high-level Laws and advanced to the peak of Eight Patterns. Then, it took another three and a half months to replace the previous five Laws.

Now, Sun Wukong's strength was at the peak of a Eight Patterns Supreme, possessing seven Laws in total, of which four were high-level and three were top-level.

Xi Zhao was also at the peak of Eight Patterns, possessing eight Laws—five high-level and three top-level.

The Flame God was slightly weaker, at the intermediate phase of Eight Patterns, with the same number of eight Laws—five high-level and three top-level. The top-level Laws possessed by the three of them were the Three Patterns, Four Patterns, and Five Patterns, while the high-level Laws included the first three plus two more, the Seven Patterns and Eight Patterns.

Half of the time had passed and there were six months left before the one-year deadline. During these six months, the trio's task was to first replace the Seven and Eight Patterns Laws with top-level Laws and then find a way to absorb one more, to become a Nine Patterns Supreme!

However, just as the three of them were waking up almost simultaneously, a dark shadow leaped in through the window. Without looking, they knew it was definitely Caomei. They had no idea what Caomei had been doing during this half-year and, notably, she had returned alone.

"What have you been up to this whole time, acting all secretive? And why isn't the little fox with you?" Xi Zhao asked.

"Don't ask now, come quickly, I've got some good stuff for you." As if fearing discovery by someone, Caomei approached cautiously with an object cradled in her arms.

But as she arrived at the center of their group, she did not immediately reveal the object she was carrying. Instead, she stomped her foot forcefully, and a semi-transparent light barrier rose from beneath her feet, enclosing her and the others inside.

Once the light barrier was established, Caomei finally let out a relieved sigh and then pulled a cloth pouch from her embrace. She placed the pouch on the ground and crouched down. Seeing Caomei's somewhat amusing actions, Sun Wukong and the others also found it interesting and crouched down as well.

Caomei slowly opened the pouch, and Sun Wukong saw that inside were three lustrous, crystal-clear little fruits, small enough to be about the size of longan fruits, and radiating a glow similar to that of mutton-fat jade.

When Xi Zhao saw the fruits, his expression changed dramatically. Sniffing them, he asked in a hushed voice, "Is, is this the Netherworld Fortuity Fruit? Where did you get these? And you actually have three?"

"Shh, keep it down. I'm impressed you recognized them. Eat them quickly, before the Heavenly Patrollers find out, or we're done for."

Sun Wukong and the Flame God, clueless, asked in a low voice, "Xi Zhao, what's the deal with these fruits? And what are Heavenly Patrollers?"

Upon receiving affirmation from Caomei, Xi Zhao's face couldn't hide his shock.

Having heard Sun Wukong's question, he steadied himself and glanced around before seeing Caomei nodding and then addressing Sun Wukong, "The Netherworld Fortuity Fruit grew from the blood of the Cosmic Pioneers that fell upon the ancestral veins of the Netherworld, nurtured by countless coincidences and even bearing a sliver of a Creator's soul fragment.

In this entire universe, there won't be more than twenty such fruits. Even in my previous life, I had only heard of them but never seen them."

After pausing, he continued, still in awe, looking at Caomei, and then said, "As for the Heavenly Patrollers, they are beings that reign above the Nine Great Domain Lords. They are the true masters of this universe.

And the Netherworld Fortuity Fruit is forbidden by them—if anyone is discovered hoarding or stealing it, not only will that person be directly obliterated, but also their race and even their entire world might be destroyed. Among the Nine Great Divine Kingdoms, there was one that was destroyed by the Heavenly Patrollers!"

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